10 Nations Band Together to Protect Cultural Heritage Sites Under Threat

The remains of the entrance of the Temple of Bel in Palmyra, Syria. Photo: Maher Al Mounes/ Stringer/ Getty.

Ten countries have banded together to form a new coalition that seeks to protect ancient heritage from extremism and senseless destruction. The announcement, made at the “Ancient Civilizations Forum” in Athens yesterday, April 24, is an international effort to combat ISIS’s on-going destruction of ancient sites in Syria and northern Iraq, including Palmyra, Nineveh, and Nimrud.

The project was spearheaded by the Greek and Chinese governments. Greek foreign minister Nikos Kotzias said the group would promote “dialogue in the face of fanaticism, and culture in the face of terrorism.” China’s foreign minister Wang Yi added: “We’re only just getting started.”

This is not the only high-profile new effort to combat cultural heritage destruction. Just last month, at a conference at the Louvre Museum in Paris hosted by Francois Hollande, the French president announced that a total of $75.5 million (€70 million) had been pledged for a UNESCO-backed fund to protect cultural heritage sites all over the world from war and terrorism. The funds were donated by seven countries and the American philanthropist Tom Kaplan.

In May 2015, ISIS fighters seized the ancient ruins in Palmyra and destroyed UNESCO World Heritage site temples. Syrian forces retook Palmyra last month, for the second time. Other sites that have come under attack from Islamic extremists include the Assyrian city of Nimrud in Iraq, pre-Islamic treasures in Mosul’s museum, Bamiyan, in Afghanistan, and Mali’s Timbuktu.